Sequence of Events
by your royal highness
Summary: Tags to McGee and Ziva's emails to each other during the four months they were away. Tiva, McGiva friendship, McAbby, some Jibbs
1. Ziva and Tony Heading Home Together

**So I've had this idea for a while, ever since, like the second chapter of this story…basically, I take one line from each email that they write to each other and write an extra 'side fic' that's based off of that email. Get it? Maybe? So the quote in bold italics is the quote that I am going to put in my story. I'm putting the entire email in here as well as kind of a refresher. So I hope that made sense, and I hope that you enjoy! **

Ziva-

Hey Ziva, it's Tim…uh…McGee….Elf Lord…Probie….just wanted to see how you were doing, you know, since Vance broke up the team. Abs isn't taking it very well, not even Caf-Pow will cheer her up! What's it like in Israel? I haven't been there in a while…is it still really beautiful? I miss you and your death threats, seeing your smirking face walk into the bullpen…I even miss Tony and his stupid movie lines! I even miss being called probie,can you believe that? All the people down in Cyber Crimes call me 'boss'. A little scary, if you think about it. I think that they all just think I'm going to shoot them because I am the only one down there that's actually been on the field and knows how to handle a gun. I even miss Gibbs yelling at me to do what I'm told…well, actually. I do do what I'm told. I guess I miss Gibbs yelling at Tony to tell him what to do. J I even miss Gibbs' head-slaps, am I going crazy or what? I swear it's the cyber units. I do! Is it warm in Israel? It's freezing down in the sub-basement. I miss you guys something fierce, I need you guys back! I know that complaining to you isn't going to do anything, but I might as well give it a shot.

-McGoogle

p.s. **_The night we got split up, I saw you and Tony heading home together…care to explain?_**

p.p.s. Abby says "Hi."

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Timothy McGee blinked a couple of times as Vance said those horrible words to Ziva, "Officer David, the liaison position with NCIS is being terminated. You're going home."

Home.

She _was_ home. Washington DC _was_ her home, no other. McGee couldn't believe it. He wanted to glance over at Tony, to see his reaction, but he decided not to. Things were already horrible, and by knowing that Tony had obvious feelings for Ziva, he didn't want to feel worse than he did if he looked at Tony's face. He looked at Vance's instead, in pure shock. He didn't look like he was finished.

"McGee," _Oh god._ Was all McGee could think. Where could he possibly send me? Please say forensics at least…. "I'm moving you across to the Cybercrimes unit. You'll be working with Officer Hollsworth starting tomorrow." McGee almost sighed. He was still in NCIS. Without his two best friends, he knew that…without his teammates. Teams work together, not in separate areas of the country. _Maybe Vance won't do anything to Tony…Maybe he'll be able to stay…_McGee thought, but the look on Vance's face proved that he wasn't done destroying their lives.

"DiNozzo."

"Sir," Tony spat, annoyed. But, who wouldn't be? He just found out _his _Ziva was going back to Israel, thousands of miles away from him.

"You've been reassigned. Agent afloat, USS Ronald Reagan. Pack your bags, you fly out tomorrow." McGee wanted to wake up from this horrible dream. This couldn't be happening to them, could it? He wished it was a nightmare, but everything was just too real. He could see the anger pouring off of Tony's body, ready to lunge at Director Vance. McGee hated him already, he was breaking them up. Sure, Tony was annoying, but it just wasn't a team without his 'DiNozzo charm'. And Ziva…she was…great! He could see Tony's hands ball up in fists as he glared at the Director. Vance picked up file folders and started towards Gibbs.

"Gibbs." Vance said.

McGee had almost forgotten about the gray-haired man standing next to him. Gibbs turned his head silently to the director, showing Tony his obviously annoyed face. They shared the same look before Director Vance gave him the folders, "Meet your new team."

There was a deep breath that was taken but not released from the room. They all stood still, none of them breathing, none of them moving. The anger was flowing off of everyone's bodies as Vance nodded at them before turning back around to sit down in his desk, "You're free to go now. Officer David." He called her. McGee managed to take a look at Tony, who was staring at Ziva.

She didn't say anything, she just glared at him. How could he do this to her?

"You fly out tomorrow just like DiNozzo. Pack your bags." he handed her a piece of paper with flight information. She sighed and then took it before turning back around and stealing a glance with Tony, "DiNozzo." Vance called, handing him his flight ticket, which Tony snatched out of his hands. They all started towards the door, but Vance stopped them, "David, DiNozzo, McGee, leave your badges and SIGS on your desks in the squadroom. I'll come and pick them up when I'm down there." They didn't say anything, they just walked out of the Director's office, past a confused Cynthia, and out of the room. They were in a single file line, Gibbs in the front, McGee behind him, Tony behind McGee and Ziva in the back. Gibbs felt as if a thousand little eyes watched their humble team walk down the stairs, wanting to kill Vance. The four agents all went to their desks, Gibbs throwing the files down on top of his desk while sitting and placing his head in his hands, wondering where the hell he screwed up. McGee sighed.

"Well, I guess this is it." He said, before starting towards his desk. Tony and Ziva stopped in the entrance to the bullpen and stared at each other. McGee looked up and noticed their look. It was almost as if they wanted so badly to jump each other right then and there, but they didn't have the nerve to do it. They broke their gazes unwillingly and stared towards their desks. The boxes came out, and they both slowly started putting their belongings into them, the sadness pouring off of their faces. McGee knew that the trip to LA had really scarred the two of them. For all he knew, it was like Paris for them. The pictures of Ziva in her bikini showed him that…the pictures. He pressed a couple of buttons and brought them up, printing them out as sort of a 'goodbye' present for Tony. He knew he'd like them. He pulled out a package of envelopes he had in his drawer and placed the pictures in them, sealing it and scribbling Tony's name on it. When he had finished packing up his belongings, and he was ready to go, he noticed that Tony was only half-way done with his, and Ziva was done, napping on her desk. _She's waiting for him…._McGee thought as he walked over to Tony's desk. He stood in front of it for a while before clearing his throat.

"Hey, Tim." Tony said, looking up at him, his eyes wet with tears. He had been crying, or trying hard not to.

"Hey, Tony. Look I…"

"It's not your fault. It's my fault. If I had just listened to Ziva and tailed the Director, Jenny would still be alive and we wouldn't be splitting up right now!"

"Tony, it's not your fault!"

"Don't say that, Tim!" Tony yelled, causing Ziva to stir. He gave her a longing glance before turning back to McGee, "What?"

"I…I wanted to give you this." He said, handing him an envelope. Tony just stared at it.

"What is it?"

"Pictures. For your cabin on the USS Ronald Regan."

"Of what?" McGee looked down and then pointed his head at Ziva. Tony quickly took them and opened them up, staring down at her in the bikini, "Come here, Tim." Tony said, and McGee hesitated before walking over to him. He was engulfed by a warm, tight hug, patting him on the back before letting go, "Thanks."

"No problem. Look, I'll miss you, Tony."

"I'll miss you too, Probie."

"Tony! Timmy! Tell me it isn't true!" Abby cried, running into the bullpen and flinging her arms around the two. Her eyes were full of tears, her make-up streaming down her face. Abby's insane crying woke Ziva from her small slumber, as she lifted her head off of her desk, straightened her dress, and then walked towards the three. Gibbs appeared behind Abby, and Ziva gave him a sad smile. He just nodded back.

"Abs, I'm still going to see you…" McGee breathed, trying to get her off of him and get circulation back into his lungs.

"I know," She cried, "But what about _you_, Tony?" She asked, turning around and flinging her arms around the senior field agent, "I'm going to miss you…" She moaned, "Why does this have to happen?" Her voice was cracking, "It's just not fair."

"I know, Abs." Tony said, patting her back, "I'm going to miss you. But right when I get on the ship, I'm going to send you a postcard every day, all right?" She nodded against his shoulder, her tears staining his suit, "Already miss you, Abs." he said, hugging her tighter. Abby let go of Tony and then turned to Ziva, staring at her for a minute before pulling her into a tight hug.

"Ziva! What am I going to do without my Israeli ninja?" She cried, squeezing Ziva, who just wrapped her arms around her.

"I do not know, Abby. But I will miss you all." Ziva said, sadness definite in her voice.

"Write me."

"I don't know if I can, Abby. Mossad is very strict." She squeezed her again and then let go of her. McGee noticed at that moment, that it was the first time that Ziva had spoken since Vance had let them out of his office. Ziva gave a sad smile at McGee.

"Shalom, Tim." She said, before hugging him tightly, taking the last part of her friend in.

"Bye, Ziva." He said, trying to keep the tears out of his eyes, "I will miss you. Gibbs will get us back, I promise you." They broke away from each other and McGee turned to Gibbs, "Right boss?"

"Not your boss anymore, Tim." Gibbs said and Ziva walked over to him.

"Thank you, Gibbs." She said, smiling at him, "I guess this is shalom, yes?" He gave her his crooked smile.

"Gonna miss you, Ziva." He said, pulling her into a hug, his hand on the back of her head, trying to hug his friend as hard as he could. He had come to like Ziva, maybe even more than Kate, but he doubted that sometimes. He knew that Tony liked Ziva more than Kate, and he didn't understand how the two could be away from each other. He saw the way they looked at each other, the way they acted around each other, everything. He also knew that Tony was deeply hurt when Vance said that she was going back home to Israel. And, the last thing he knew, was how Mossad ran their agency. He didn't know if he was ever going to see her again. He squeezed her harder before letting her go, staring into her eyes, "Take care of yourself, okay, Ziva?"

"You too, Gibbs. Shalom."

"Shalom," Gibbs smiled as he let go of her. She turned around and stared at them all. She had said goodbye to Gibbs, to Abby, and to McGee, but she hadn't to Tony. She knew that one hug wasn't going to say goodbye to him; it just wasn't sufficient enough. She took in a deep breath and started towards Tony, who was leaning up against the side of his desk, his arms crossed, staring down at the floor. She was about to say something, when she was cut off by a Scottish accent.

"My dears! You can not be leaving!" Ziva turned around and smiled at Ducky, who embraced her in a hug.

"Goodbye, Ducky. I will miss your stories." Ziva said.

"Goodbye, Ziva. Take care of yourself. And come back, please! This is just…a disaster!" Ducky said as he let go of her.

"Shalom." She smiled as he went to hug Tim and Tony.

"Timothy, Anthony," They both looked up at him, "Take good care of yourselves." They nodded, smiling sadly at him before Tony's eyes captured Ziva's. At that moment, all eyes turned to look at them, as if they were waiting for something to happen. Ziva walked over to him, as if there wasn't anyone in the room, and put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Tony," she said, softly. He looked up at her, into her brown pools. She gave him a closed smile, "Shalom."

"Bye, Zi." He said, placing his hand on the side of her cheek, patting it gently before letting go of her. They both shared a look before returning to their desks, all eyes still on them. _That wasn't a goodbye. That wasn't a goodbye. That wasn't a goodbye…._ Ziva looked up at Tony as she put the last top on her box. He did the same. She picked up the box and stared at them.

"Shalom," She said, tears in her eyes as she quickly started out of the bullpen. She wasn't going to let Tony see her cry. Suddenly, she felt a warm, large hand on her arm, pulling her back. She stopped and turned to see Tony, the tears forming in his eyes as well. This was affecting them, "What?" She asked, choking back tears, her voice shaking a little.

"I'll…miss you…Zi." He said, grabbing her box and placing it on top of his. She stared at him, blinking back the tears that were starting to fall. She couldn't let him see her cry. Crying wasn't part of her training.

"I will….miss you too, Tony." She managed to spit out, the tears running down her face. She couldn't stop it, she was leaving them, all of the people she loved, her entire family, here in Washington DC.

"Bye, everyone." Tony said, "I'll…see you later, boss." He said before carefully grabbing Ziva's hand in his and leading her out of the bullpen. It wasn't until the elevator doors closed that McGee turned to Gibbs.

"What do you think they're gonna do, boss?"

Gibbs walked over to him, "Say goodbye to each other, McGee." Gibbs said, pulling him into a hug and patting his back, "I'll see you later, Tim." He said, walking out of the bullpen, "Bye, Tim." Gibbs stopped and dropped something on Tony's empty desk before walking out of the bullpen. McGee shared a look with Abby before walking over to Tony's desk and staring at what Gibbs had dropped.

Sitting on the top of Tony's desk were three badges. Tim put his hand protectively down to his right hip before taking off his badge and staring at it, wiping the gold plate. He placed it on top of Gibbs.

"Apparently Gibbs thinks Vance fired him too." Ducky commented.

"He gave him a new team, Ducky. That's good enough for him."


	2. To Witness Someone get Shot

McGee-

McGee! Tim! It is you! I did not know how to stay in contact with people in NCIS or America, but now I do. Thank you so much, McGee. You do not know how happy I am to receive this message. Israel is beautiful, but…well it is not home. I miss NCIS. I miss everyone. I miss you and your 'geek' talk (No offense), Abby and her enormous hugs, Gibbs and his coffee, Ducky and his stories, Jimmy and his laugh, and even…my partner. My 'partner' here is not fun, he does not tell jokes, he does not do anything in a joking matter. Everything here is work and just work. I miss you all. Please, McGee help get us back. My operations that I am working here are nowhere near the level that I had back in NCIS. They are so strict, I am almost afraid that my days are numbered._**I already had to witness someone in a Mossad Operative get shot, I could not take it. **_I already had to live through Jenny's death, why did I have to be forced to live through another agent's death? Regarding the relationship that my partner and I have…I will not reveal what happened that night, but I will say that it has changed both of us for the better. And no, do not assume.

-Ninja Ziva

p.s. Tell Abby I said "Hi" too! And tell everyone I miss them.

p.p.s. Is there anyway that I could get in contact with my partner?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ziva sighed and opened up the large, mahogany door to her father's office. He was sitting at his desk, scribbling furiously on a sheet of paper while yelling at someone on the phone in Hebrew.

"_I do not care! Get him to me. Now! No, not later. Now! I have to go. I will talk to you later. _Shalom," He hung up the phone, "Ah, Ziva!" He said, beckoning her to him. She sighed and walked over to him, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Tony had really gotten the better of her. He grabbed her roughly, kissing both of her cheeks before letting go of her, "Please sit, Ziva." She started towards the chair in front of his desk and she sat, staring at the flag behind his desk. An Israeli flag. She was too used to seeing the stripes and stars behind the desk instead, "I take it your plane ride was enjoyable, yes?"

Ziva nodded. She didn't want to talk to him. She was still upset that she was forced to leave Tony in the airport this morning, or yesterday morning she guessed. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She could still feel his last heated kiss he gave her, the one that caused half of the people in the airport to start a chorus of 'aww's and 'ooo's.

"Ziva? Ziva?" She had spaced out, "ZIVA!" Her father's booming voice brought her out of her daydream. She snapped her head towards him.

"Yes?"

"Ah, she speaks."

"Sorry, papa."

"Stop thinking about your time with NCIS. They did not appreciate your work….""Do not say that." Ziva spat, "They _did _appreciate my work. You do not know anything!"

"Ziva! How dare you speak to me that tone of voice!" Her father said, "Do understand that I am the director of Mossad."

"I understand that fully. And I am an NCIS field agent." Ziva said. Her father huffed, straightening his tie before pressing a button on his desk phone.

"_Bring him in." _He said in Hebrew. Ziva gave a confused look to her father as a man walked into the room. He was rather handsome, Ziva had to admit that, but Tony was a thousand times more handsome than this man.

"What is this, papa?"

"This is Maani," He pointed to him, "He will be your new partner on all operatives, Ziva."

"I do not want another partner." Ziva said, thinking immediately back to Tony.

"Ziva, I am very aware of your feelings for your partner back at NCIS. America has made you soft, but let me tell you this, Ziva," He got close to her, pushing a finger towards her, "You are not at NCIS, nor will you be going back there. They do not want you, that is why they terminated your position. You were not needed." Ziva abruptly stood up. She had never felt this way towards her father, she had never gone against anything he said, but this time, it was different. She had found power when she had been in Washington DC.

"I was needed," Ziva said, "And now, since I am not needed here, I will go back to my room _without _my partner." She turned back around to face her father, "Do not expect me to sleep with him, because I will not. I refuse." She said, turning back around.

"Ziva David!" He called, but she didn't turn around, she just continued to walk out of the room.

"_Should I follow after her, sir?" _Maani asked, staring after Ziva.

"_No, Agent Abijah. Give her time to cool off. She has developed into something other than a Mossad Agent with her time in America. She just needs to realize where she really belongs, who she really is. She will come around." _Eli said, even though he was furious at his daughter for talking to him like that. She would have to learn better.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

She had never stood up to her father like that. She had never. She continued walking, in a faster pace than she normally did, towards her room. She had to have one actually on Mossad property; she hadn't had enough time to rent an apartment, she hadn't even done a currency exchange. She closed the door to her room and locked it even though she knew that if her father sent someone after her, it wouldn't do her any good. She walked over to the sink in the small kitchen that she had, which consisted of a miniscule, dirty counter top with doors that were coming off of the hinges, and then a sink next to it. She grabbed a glass out of one of the cabinets, which, for once, was clean, and then turned on the water only for it to sputter, spatter, and then spit out a brown substance. Disgusted, she turned off the water and set the glass down, figuring that she could always get water from another place.

A mini refrigerator was shoved in the corner of the room, and there were spider webs as well as dirt all over it. The walls were splattered in different substances that she didn't even want to know what they were, and the small table and chairs in the other corner of the room was crawling with insects. Ziva shied away from it. She almost thought they didn't even bother cleaning up for her, or this was one of the places that they interrogated their victims. She shuddered at the though and wanted back into her apartment in DC. She briefly wondered where her sudden love for DC came from…or from who.

"_Typical," _She spat in Hebrew as she walked into the other small room, her bedroom. It barely fit the Queen double bed; there was only room left for a table with a crooked lamp on it. It had been the only clean room in the entire place, and she stared at the suitcase that was lying on top of the Israeli flag that was stitched as a quilt for her bed. Placing her bag down next to the suitcase, something she never carried, she opened up the suitcase. She had been in Israel for a few hours, and yet she hated it. She wanted to be back at home with Gibbs, with McGee, with Ducky, with Palmer, with Abby, with…_him. _

She heard a gun shot and immediately dropped to the ground, instinctively reaching for her SIG on her right hip, but she realized it wasn't there. Crawling like a panther, she made her way over to the side of the window in her bedroom, looking down on the Mossad training camp. She saw a body on the ground, and a couple of men dragging him out. Everyone else around him continued to do their duty, which apparently was an obstacle course. Ziva remembered that obstacle course quite well, but the sight of that man getting shot, obviously for not doing what they were told fast enough, quick enough, made her sick to her stomach. She had witnessed it before, before she had gone to the states, how could this affect her so much? Was it because of her 'family' back in Washington? Gibbs was more of a father than _her own _father was, but she would never admit that to Mossad. McGee was more of a brother than Ari was…she would never think of shooting McGee. It would be too painful. She almost thought that losing Abby would be as painful or more painful than losing Tali was, and she was a blood relative. She had already lost Jenny…her 'mother'…She backed away from the window and plopped down on her bed, her father's words running through her head.

"_America has made you soft." _She sighed and looked at her open suitcase to find a shirt that she didn't remember packing on top as well as a piece of paper. She stood up and walked around to the front of her suitcase, picking up the piece of paper.

_Zi-_

_Thought you'd like this. You know, to have a piece of me with you. Have fun in Israel. Think of me, cause I'm thinking of you. _

_Miss you already,_

_Tony_

She smiled, the tears coming to her eyes as she looked down at the shirt that was in her suitcase.

Ohio State Buckeyes.

She smiled again, the tears dangerously threatening to fall as she slipped it over her head, hugging herself and reminiscing in _his _scent. The smell of soap, cologne, and…Anthony DiNozzo. She walked towards the window, still hugging herself as she stared across Israel, "America has made me soft," She whispered, "But you, Anthony DiNozzo, have made me softer."

**Cheesy, I know, but still…good, yes? Review! Please! **


	3. Lunch with Abby

Ziva-

Oh, sounds tough. I'm sorry, Ziva, I really am. I would do something if I could, but I can't. Vance has things really tight down here in the sub-basement. He's technically my boss now. It really, as Tony would say, sucks. (Insert movie reference here). Abby has this wall that's devoted to you and Tony. No, not that kind of wall, just a memory of both of you. She knows that you two are coming back. She even has a countdown to the number of days that you've been gone. So I guess it would be called a count 'up' instead. _**I don't see much of Gibbs, but I have lunch with Abby everyday and she said that he's still Gibbs, but he doesn't yell as much.**_ I mean, he's annoyed with how the team is split up, but I think he really loved Jenny. I have to remember that I don't have to cover up everything I do anymore, because Tony won't be looking. Oh, Ziva. I know that you said that I can't assume, but even if I did assume, you couldn't kill me, because that would mean flying all the way back to DC. (Which I wouldn't mind). But I'll just assume.

-Probie-Wan Kenobi

p.s. You. And. Tony. Had. Sex.

p.p.s. About time!

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"It's about time you got here, Timmy!" Abby said, frowning as she put her hands on his hips outside of the restaurant.

"Sorry, Abs, I was having a tough time finding a parking spot."

"That's okay," She said, flinging her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

"Abs…can't…breathe."

"Sorry, sorry." She mumbled as she let go of him, looking down at her shoes. He stuck his arm out for her and she took it, "Thanks!" She happily said, walking into the restaurant. It was just a little place down the road, "You sure this is the place?"

"Yup, I'm sure."

"I thought you said it was crowded."

"It was when I came here last." He said, taking their seats down in the back corner of the restaurant.

"Oh yeah, that's right. You never got me anything!" She whacked him in the arm.

"Hey! What was that for?" Abby just crossed her arms, her deadly purse swinging as she glared at him, "Okay, fine. But you never gave me your order! And Tony was so persistent that…"

"Hey, welcome to Jimmy's, home of the world's most famous barbeque. What can I get you two to drink?"

"Water." Tim said, thanking him.

"Uh…you serve Caf-Pow here?"

"Caf what?"

"Uh…" McGee spoke up as he watched Abby's eyes turn wide and then icy cold, "She'll have a Coors Light. Please." The waiter nodded and then scurried away.

"I don't like him," Abby said, still glaring at the man that was scurrying around the back of the counter.

"Why?"

"He didn't know what a Caf-Pow was! Do you have an idea how deprived he is?"

"Abs, Abs, calm down. I'll buy you one on the way back to NCIS, okay?"

She nodded, "Okay, Timmy." After a moment or two of silence, she spoke again, "I miss them."

"Tony and Ziva?"

"Yeah." She sighed, "And Gibbs…you should see him! It's like he doesn't even belong! He refuses to work with them. He works completely alone. Like completely. Okay, well not completely because Ducky and Jimmy and me and Brett and Michelle and…"

"Point, Abs?"

"Jeez, you sound just like Gibbs."

"Well they do call me 'boss' down in the sub-basement." Tim sighed and Abby stifled a laugh. McGee glared at her.

"Okay, fine. I know it's not funny. But just the thought of the little computer geeks down there calling _you_ boss! It's fun-" She started, but stopped as she saw his glare deepen, "Got it. No computer jokes."

"Here are your two drinks." The waiter said, setting down the water and the beer. Abby took a large swig of it, "Now can I get you two anything to eat?"

"Yeah, we're both gonna have the pork barbeque sandwich with extra sauce."

"Great. Your food should be out shortly."

"So what else is going on, Timmy? How does Ziva like Israel?"

"I got the impression that she didn't like it very much. She just keeping saying that she missed everyone." Tim shrugged, "And she refused to say Tony's name."

Abby scoffed and rolled her eyes before taking another swig of beer, "What a love-struck teenager. I swear, it's like she's never fallen in love before!" She said between swigs, "I mean, _I've _fallen in love before and I haven't acted _that_ different! She's making it so obvious…when that Israeli ninja gets back, she and I are going to have a great talk."

"She may not come back, Abby." McGee said softly, and Abby's mouth dropped, and she almost lost control of the beer bottle in her hands.

"How could you ever _think _about saying that, McGee?" Abby asked as she started speaking with her hands, "She is coming back! And so is Tony! And so are you! You're all coming back!"

"I'm not saying that. I have no doubt that they'll all come back. I just don't know if Ziva will come back alive or not…"

"McGee!" She yelled, half of the restaurant turning to look at them, the tears forming in her eyes, "Just the thought of that! How could you? She's coming back, and she'll be alive as always! She'll come back and she'll be nice to you and hug me and say 'shalom' to Gibbs and flirt with Tony and everything will be peachy!"

"Abby, could you please keep your voice down? I didn't mean that I _wanted _her dead. I just said that there was a good chance that she would be." He hissed, "You're making the whole restaurant turn to look at us!"

"Take it back, Timmy. Take it back!"

"I wish I could…Abs. I just don't know. Gibbs was very…"

"Gibbs has changed! He needs his three musketeers back!"

"Abs…"

"Don't 'Abs' me! He needs me! He needs you, he needs Tony, he needs Ziva. He needs _Jenny_. Ziva is not another Jenny!" Abby abruptly stood up and grabbed her purse. McGee stood up as well.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

"Back to headquarters. I'll be in the lab if you want to say sorry."

"Abs!" McGee yelled after her as she walked out of the restaurant. McGee sighed and watched her take off in her hearse.

"Uh…here's your food…" The waiter said, "Where'd the girl go?"

"You think I can get this to go?"

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"It's about time you showed up, McGee." Abby spat, her back turned to him, staring at the AFIS test in front of her, the fingerprints quickly changing on the screen.

"Look Abs…I'm sorry." He said. She didn't turn around.

"Do I have to say it McGee? Do I have to even say it?"

"Say what?"

"Why? Why are you sorry?"

"I'm sorry for saying that Ziva would come back dead. It was wrong. I know that. Sorry, Abs." He sighed, and she spun around, the same expression her face. Her expression softened as she noticed her barbeque in a bag in one hand as well as a large Caf-Pow in the other. McGee set them down and she launched herself into his arms, hugging him tightly. He hugged her back, patting her on the back as he did so.

"Thanks, McGee." She sniffed, "I really do miss them."

"Me too Abs, me too." McGee sighed as she buried her face into his shoulder.

If there was one thing that McGee learned today, it was not to mess with Abby's three musketeers, even if you were one of them.


	4. McDead, McGee

**Thanks so much for all of the reviews! I appreciate them all! Okay, this one's a little different. It's not with Ziva or McGee…it's with Tony! Heheheh Enjoy! And thanks!**

Dead One-

How DARE you assume that my partner and I had sex! How dare you assume anything! Oh, McGee, you are dead. You. Are. Dead. Dead, do you hear me? Dead! I told you not to assume, I told you not to! My partner and I are merely friends, best friends if you must, and nothing more. Oh, you are dead McGee. _**As my partner would say it, McDead, yes? **_My partner and I did nothing of the sort. Well, I take that back. I will not reveal any information as to what my partner and I did during our last night together. Dare I ask what you and Abby did? Do I assume like you did? I think I will, McDead. Oh, McGee, you do not know how lucky you are to not be in the same country as me right now.

-Ziva

p.s. Any luck with finding a way to communicate with my partner?

p.p.s. Or are you too busy writing another novel? Is what I am writing, as you Americans would say it, 'gold', McGee?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Watch out! It's the agent afloat!" Some men said, barricading themselves against the walls in mock terror as Tony walked through the narrow hallways. He shook his head. At NCIS he never got made fun of like _this_; that was the Probie's job. He scowled. This was all his fault. If he had listened to _her, _listened to _his partner, _he would have tailed the director, and he would still be at NCIS headquarters. Actually, he would be at home sleeping…home…DC…

Another man walking out of the galley shoved himself against the side of the ship. He wasn't even _carrying_ a gun with him at the moment. It was 200h in the morning for crying out loud!

How far away could his quarters be anyways? After being shipped to the Seahawk just last week, he had yet to unpack his things; he barely was able to find his quarters. Finally, he caught a gold shiny plate on a door 'NCIS'. Tony scoffed. This wasn't NCIS…he would never call _this _NCIS. The small 'squadroom' was revealed to his eyes as he slammed the door closed, flicking on the light as he made his way over to his bunk. What kind of punishment was this? Hell. He pulled out his suitcase from under the desk and grabbed his NCIS shirt and his sweat pants out, quickly changing before spotting a stack of mail on top of the desk. He grabbed them up and flipped through them; Credit Card bills, a Seahawk 'welcome' letter, a postcard from Abby and…GSM. He smiled and put it over to the side before reading Abby's postcard.

_Tony! _

_I miss you! Insanely! Are you having fun yet? Sorry, I haven't heard anything from Ziva. Timmy says hi! And he misses being called 'probie'. Gibbs is insane. Like really insane. Like insanely insane. He's gone crazy! He hates them all, it's just…crazy! Hahahahaha love you, Tony! Come back soon! I'll try to get Gibbs to start whipping that big bad ol' director Vance into shape! _

_MISS YA LIKE CRAZY!!!!_

_-Abs_

Tony smiled and yawned, realizing that all he wanted to do was to go to sleep. He stared longingly over at the GSM issue that was at his left. He glanced at it again and then picked it up, realizing that this would be the only time he'd get to read the magazine. He flopped down on his bunk and stared at the cover before groaning and banging his head back against the pillow, throwing it down onto the floor. It landed with a loud clap as he turned over on his side.

_Of course the woman on the front has to look exactly like _her, _it's only to make everything harder for you! She's probably happy in Israel. She's never going to call you, she's never gonna write you…_He sighed and stood up, realizing that he was never going to get to sleep that night. Not that he had wanted to anyways. If he fell asleep, that would only mean that he would dream. He would dream about _her_, being taken away from him, he'd dream about Jenny getting shot. He walked over to the closet and punched in the code before opening it up and flipping out his knife, cutting the tape off of the un-opened box next to the other, opened and used box. He pulled out a bottle of whiskey and picked up his empty glass before sitting down at his desk. He poured himself half a glass and downed it in two sips. He poured himself another, staring at the bulletin board in front of him. He stared at Abby's picture, her looking completely adorable in her normal clothing, standing in her lab. He smiled at her before drowning another glass.

"Hey, Abs." He spoke, out loud, "How are you? Miss you…..miss everyone. Don't think poorly of me because I drink, okay Abs? It really helps. I'm almost as addicted to it as you are to your Caf-Pow thing." Tony smiled, "Take good care of Probie." He said between sips, "He needs all the help he can get." He gave a little slurred laugh before staring at the pictures underneath it. He frowned and drowned a couple of glasses before finally talking.

"You…" he slurred, "you haunt my….mdreams….and I lovya forit…. You probably hatme righnow…for dr…drinkin', but don tellme that youdon drink. Cause I knowya do…your just probably….embar….assed. I lovyou….Zeeevahhh…" Tony groaned, smacking his head down onto the table, noticing three fourths of the Whiskey was already gone. Tim just _had _to give him those pictures, just to torment him, didn't he? "Your…so….McDead….McGee…" Tony slurred before the alcohol knocked him into a dreamless sleep, just as it had the past couple of weeks.


	5. Ducky

Ziva-

Look, I'm sorry, all right. It's just that you never want to talk about your sex life, and since you didn't want to talk about what you and Tony did, I would just assume that you did have sex. I mean, you never talk about it ever and…this is the part where you yell 'McGee' or Tony calls me some other nickname. Probably McRamble. And no, Abby and I didn't do anything. In fact, I just gave her one of those huge, bone-crushing hugs and then went back home. We still see each other Ziva, unlike you and Tony. And how come you can't ever say his name? Okay, _type_ his name, to be more specific. Vance gave me a mission today. I think I'm classified from telling you what's in it. Sorry there, Ziva. Truly, I am sorry for assuming. I won't assume. Oh, and uh…I think I found a way to send mail to Tony. Abby's been getting postcards. I'll sneak down and get you the address a little later. I heard that Gibbs' new team is a mess, and that Vance better learn to sleep with his eyes open because Gibbs is pissed. Director won't answer any questions Gibbs asks about us. _**I visited Ducky today! He told me to tell you 'I hope you're doing well, young Ziva. Take care'. **_Ziva, it's not anything like it normally is without anyone around here. And this nicknaming thing is really getting on my nerves… 'boss'…wonder what Tony would say to that? Sorry about assuming with you and Tony though, really. I better go though, Vance is going to come down soon to check up on me. I'm supposed to be cracking codes not talking to you! Sorry!

MISS. YOU.

-Tim

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The doors to autopsy hissed open and Tim walked in. Ducky was alone in autopsy, staring over a body as he pulled out his liver. McGee almost puked, but managed to keep it down.

The Medical Examiner sighed, "Jethro, I'm not finished yet…" He turned around and seemed startled, "Oh, Timothy! It's you! Haven't seen your face for a long time. How have you been doing, young lad?"

"Hey, Duck. I would….hug you but…"

"Ah, yes, I see." He grimaced at his blood covered scrubs as he pulled off his gloves, threw them away, and started washing his hands, "So how has the sub-basement been for you, Timothy?"

McGee sighed and leant up against one of the empty autopsy tables, "Horrible. I miss field work."

"Yes, I would probably miss it too if I were you. You haven't met any friends?"

Tim sighed, "No…no, not yet."

"Well what are you waiting for?"

McGee sighed and shrugged, "I have no idea. I guess I'm reminiscing on the past too much. As much as I hate to admit it, I even miss Tony! Do you know how much I would give just to be called 'Probie' again?" He asked, and the Doctor turned off the water and pulled on the paper towel dispenser, drying his hands as he stared at nothing.

"How is Anthony doing?" Ducky asked, almost changing the subject while throwing away his paper towel and undoing his scrubs. He started towards his desk and sat down in his seat. McGee followed him.

"I have no idea. Abby would know though, she's been getting letters from him."

"Ah, I see." He said, pondering, "Anthony isn't doing too well, is he?"

McGee sighed. Tony? Trapped on a ship for life? McGee almost laughed. He would only dream such horrible things, and even when he did that, he felt guilty about it, "No…he…isn't, Ducky."

"I see…Ziva?" Ducky asked, looking up at him.

"I've talked to her. Her exact words 'Life in Mossad is complete Hell.'" McGee and Ducky both chuckled at that but then let it die as their smiles fell off of their faces.

"Does she talk to him?"

McGee was confused, "Who?"

"Tony." Ducky said, a small smile forming on his face.

"No…why?"

Ducky stood up and walked around the room, no real course in mind. He started pacing around the autopsy tables, staring down at the ground, pondering, "Timothy, you are an NCIS special agent. You haven't seen it?"

"Seen what?" McGee asked.

"You don't need a psychological analysis from me to determine that they care for each other, my dear boy."

"Well I thought it was something but…"

"It's more than something. Remember when Tony was dating the young French woman? Jeanne?"

"How can I forget?"

"See, Timothy, Anthony stood up Ziva at the bar that night. She kept calling him over and over again; the poor girl would never give up. And when I told her that she was acting like a wayward lover, she stopped as if she was caught. For Ziva to be away from Tony for one night, much less a couple of months across thousands of miles, would be completely unbearable for her. LA changed them, Timothy. You don't need a psychological analysis to determine that. Remind you of anyone?"

"Tony and Ziva? No." McGee shook his head.

"How about Jethro and a certain red-headed director that we all loved?"

"Oh," McGee said, realizing. He checked his watch, "I better get going, though, Ducky. Thanks."

"Tell Ziva that I hope she's doing well, young Ziva. And to take care of herself."

McGee sighed, "I don't want to go down there. I miss the field work like Tony misses his and Ziva's movie nights."

"Well no matter if you like it or not, it looks like you're going to be down there for a while, sadly. Jethro doesn't seem…himself lately." Ducky admitted, and McGee stopped in the doorway, the doors hissing shut as it realized he wasn't going to walk through.

McGee furrowed his eyebrows together, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, Timothy, that our Leroy Jethro Gibbs is having a tough time." he placed his hands on both of McGee's forearms, shaking him, "He lost a woman very close to him and his team in a couple of days. He's lost his family…again. Take care of yourself, McGee."

"You too, Ducky." He said, embracing his friend, "You too. Bye."

"Goodbye, lad." Ducky said, patting his back as he let go of him. McGee nodded and walked out of Autopsy, pressing the button for the elevator as he waited for it to come back down. He was about to walk in when he realized that Gibbs was in the elevator…without a coffee. He glanced down at his watch. 0930h...where was his coffee?

"Tim." Gibbs acknowledged, nodding his head at him as he walked out of the elevator. McGee exchanged places and they stared at each other for a while.

"Bye, boss."

"Not your boss, Tim." Gibbs said as the doors closed, "Not your boss."

**I already have the next chapter written, and I will admit that it is a very emotional chapter about Ziva in Israel. She breaks down. I'm not even kidding. It took me FOREVER to write because I wanted it to be a believable Ziva breakdown. If you want to read that tonight I want you to review! We even have a new special little review button! AND I ACCEPT ANONYMOUS REVIEWS! *HINT HINT HINT HINTTT* Review!!**


	6. Cry While Trying to Sleep

**So I AM updating this story again today...so please enjoy! This is a super long chapter for me...it took me forever to write, so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT!!! THANKS SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING I LOVE YOU ALL! They make me smile every time! Review and thanks!**

McGee-

Listen, I understand your concern for me and my partner, but please. Do not assume. Do not assume, McGee. Oh, what I would give to be with you, Gibbs, and my partner again. Life is pure hell in Mossad. Pure hell, McGee. Another operative gone the teensiest bit wrong, and you are getting shot at. By your own team members, McGee! I would like that address for my partner. I want to be able to contact him over…well however long we are gone for. McGee, I do not know how much more I can take of this crude behavior. They are a thousand times worse than they were when I was here before. I can not take this anymore. I miss America, and when I was in America, I missed Israel. Is there really no place for me anymore, McGee? Is there really no place that is quite suitable for me? Maybe I should be on a boat in the middle of the sea like Tony, between Israel and America, in a place where men are actually fair, and team members actually care about each other. This is going to be a horrible time for me. I do not want to live here. If I knew that I could get out of Israel alive, I would get onto a plane tonight and fly back to Washington. I would give anything to get out of here. I miss you all. So much, it hurts. For once, last night, when I was trying to fall asleep, I thought of all of your beautiful faces. Your chubby, cute one and your cu-tip haircut, Abby's loveable gothic features and her black ponytails, Gibbs' silver hair and that half-smile he always gives, Ducky's rejuvenated old-man's face with his glasses and his autopsy scrubs, even Palmer and that curly hair with those glasses….especially my partner. Oh, his short brown hair, his famous 'DiNozzo' smile, the way he laughs, that cute little dimple he gets on one side of his cheek. The little freckle that he has on his right forearm, and even the little brown hairs on his hairy little butt._**And while I was thinking of all of you, I started to cry. **_And yes, McGee, I know what you are thinking. Ziva has emotions? Yes, I know, but I do miss you all, and I do deeply care for you all….even Tony.

-Ziva

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Furious, Ziva slammed the door to her apartment and threw down the file her father had given her. She didn't want another undercover mission. She would only go on undercover missions with Gibbs…McGee…_Tony. _She glanced at her watch, something she recently acquired in Israel, and realized it was almost 0300h in the morning. She groaned and spat in bitter Hebrew as she walked into her newly designed, picture-covered bedroom, pulling out her pajamas; Tony's t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants. She picked them up and started out of her bedroom, knowing fully that she didn't want to take a shower in the disgusting brown sludge that came out of her shower head. She made it over to the public bathrooms and stepped in, nodding at a lady who was brushing her teeth. Ziva made her way over to the lone shower head and stripped before turning on the water. She knew that she had about three minutes until the hot water cut off, and she had to time everything precisely.

One minute for shampoo, one minute for conditioner, and one minute for body wash. While the hot water caressed her back, scorching it in its intense heat, she thought about Tony, how good he hade made her feel the last time she and he were together. Every inch of her yearning body ached for him, and she groaned. She wanted him. She needed him, but her thoughts for him were interrupted as she gasped and retracted from the water; the shampoo from her hair sliding down her back and hitting the cuts she had received that day from the barbed wire training. She stared down at her feet and noticed the dried blobs of blood under her feet as well as the mixture of blood and water that was flowing down the drain. She sighed. The cuts had opened back up.

Trying to remove the pain from her thoughts, she squeezed the conditioner out of the bottle and into a small blob on her hand. She worked it through the tangles in her hair as well as watching the water turn into a mixture of red and brown. She felt disgusting as a shiver rushed through her body, causing her whole being to tremble as the soap ran down her pain filled back. She arched her body and leant her head back, trying to rinse her hair as well as not let the cuts get anymore water or soap in them.

Suddenly, the water temperature changed to cold and she jumped away from it, cursing as she realized she wasn't going to be able to use her soap today. She pulled on her sweat pants and dried the slashes on her back in the mirror. It almost looked as if she had been whipped rather hard. She vaguely thought about what Gibbs and Tony would have done if they had seen the cuts. Gibbs probably would have tracked down the bastard and arrested him, whereas Tony wouldn't have slept for days until he found him, and when he did, he would have just shot him at the spot. She smiled inwardly, to herself as she slipped Tony's shirt over her head. After brushing her teeth, smiling as she realized that the water was clear, she started out of the bathroom, drying her hair with a towel as she did so. She wasn't paying attention; her head was down at the ground, thinking about NCIS…about her family; she didn't even notice that she collided with someone.

She stumbled back, still looking down at her feet as she caught herself before she fell, _"Sorry." _Ziva said, in fluent Hebrew, _"I did not mean to…I wasn't looking…."_

"_No, that's all right." _He said in a thick, Israeli accent, _"It's perfectly fine." _He kept his large, warm hands on her arms as she looked up at him. He had dark hair, in a grown-out buzz cut with a matching five o'clock shadow that continued to grow. He smiled at her with his deep brown, inviting eyes, _"Ziva David, yes?" _He asked, and she immediately became intent.

"_Yes, that's me. What? Am I a popular topic?" _She joked.

"_Of course." _He said in a matter-of-fact tone, "_You're the director's daughter…but they never mentioned how gorgeous you are. Funny, you would think that that would be the first thing they would say." _She smiled.

"_Sure. Whatever you say. Listen, I really need to go though. You know, get to bed."_

"_Want me to help you?"_

Her eyes flickered to his for a second, studying his features. This wasn't the first time that someone had been so blunt as to what his intentions were with her; before she went to America, she would sleep with anyone in Mossad, especially if she was 'interrogating' them. Sex was a very good interrogation weapon, maybe, perhaps why Gibbs was so good at interrogations. However, now that she had been in America, and she didn't sleep with just anyone, she wasn't even prepared. Her back definitely was not ready for a wild sex session, and she didn't think she ever wanted to replace Tony's with what she was thinking about doing with the man she didn't even know that was standing in front of her. Her heart ached as she stared at his features, _"What is your name?" _She asked.

"_Special Agent Michael Rivkin, Mossad." _He smiled and stuck his hand out to her. She laughed.

"_Officer Ziva David, Mossad. Nice to meet you."_

"_Nice to meet you too. Would you like to sleep with me tonight?" _She almost laughed out loud at his bluntness, however, the question still presided: Did she _want _to sleep with him? She could almost picture what would have happened if Tony was here with her. She could almost see his eyes turn dark and his fist collide with Michael's. She smiled.

"Yes…" She groaned, thinking of Tony…Tony…Tony…and that was when he swept her away, shoving her up against the wall in her apartment. Everything was happening too fast. His lips collided with hers, and she couldn't seem to stop it. This was a complete stranger, someone she didn't even know, and he was kissing her senselessly. Part of her body wanted him to stop, was yelling at her, screaming at her 'This isn't Tony…' and then another part of her wanted him to continue. As he forced her mouth open and his tongue into hers, she felt her pants drop to her ankles, a cold draft flowing up her legs. Instinctively, she started unbuttoning his dress shirt. He only let go of her so that he could get his shirt off before shoving his hands up the back of her shirt and caressing her breasts. She moaned unconsciously, even though her mind was protesting everything. Her body, however, wasn't listening. She felt as if she was betraying Tony, betraying everyone. His lips left hers as he pulled her shirt over her head and discarded it onto the floor next to her pants. He picked her up and carried her into the bedroom, laying her down on the bed before continuing, his lips shoved up against hers again. His hands fumbled with her bra, finally taking it off before, throwing it onto the floor. She opened her eyes during the kiss, and it didn't seem as if he noticed. She stared at the thousands of pictures of Tony she had applied to her wall, trying to convince herself that this was him, that this man that was undressing her was Tony.

"Ziva…" He moaned, purring her name as he traced kisses down her neck, cupping a breast in his hand and squeezing it before placing a kiss on top of it. Without thinking, her hands reached for his pants, undoing the belt and the top button, the fly, and shoving them down, his underwear coming off in the process. He quickly stepped out of them, his eyes lighting up as he realized that he had in fact won. She felt his warm thumbs slip into the strings of her underwear and pull it down, flinging them off as he slowly entered her. She wasn't going to scream. She _was _a screamer, but she wasn't going to scream. Getting no reaction from her, he was annoyed and started going faster. She started a light moan, but knew that it would only get louder. She finally started to scream, wrapping her arms around his waist as he bucked his hips and climaxed inside of her. He started round two, and she started to scream again, her hips matching his rhythm before she realized that she couldn't take it anymore. Her body didn't want this, didn't want _him. _

"Stop! STOP!" She screamed, letting go of him and placing her feet on his chest, shoving hard as he feel off of the bed and hit the ground with a large 'boom'. She stood up and quickly ran into the other room, grabbing Tony's shirt and slipping it over her head, wondering briefly why she hadn't reached for her weapon. She would have shot him, but her mind had been too distracted with Tony, "_Shit." _She cursed in Hebrew, "_Sorry. Michael." _She said, walking back into the bedroom just as he was pulling on his pants, the pain flickering through his face.

"_It's okay. It was obvious that you weren't ready." _He said, gesturing to the walls, where her pictures were, _"Still getting over someone?"_

"_We never broke up, Michael. We were never together." _Ziva sighed at what they could have been. She didn't realize what she had had until it was gone.

"_Then why are his pictures all over you wall?" _He studied one of them, one of Tony smiling his famous 'DiNozzo' smile, _"Wait, I recognize this man. I've seen him before."_

"_Where?" _Ziva asked, walking over to him and smiling at the picture.

"_Your father showed it to me. I don't remember what he said." _Ziva studied his face.

"_You are lying." _

He turned to look at her, _"I am sorry, Ziva." _He said, kissing her on the side of the cheek and pulling on his shirt, buttoning up the buttons as he started for the doorway, _"If you ever need help though, even if you just want to talk. Call me." _

"_I will." _Ziva nodded, _"Thank you, Michael. And I am sorry. I was not ready. Forgive me." _

"_I forgive you. I was too forward with my actions. Shalom," _He said, as he started out of the apartment.

"_Shalom." _She called out, closing the door behind him. She groaned and started towards the bedroom, crawling under the covers and turning out the light. Her heart and mind were racing. Tony…Michael…Tony…why did this have to happen to her? To her of all people? She groaned, realizing just how horrible everything was. She wanted to talk to McGee…but she doubted that he had replied to her email yet. She wanted to talk to Abby…but she doubted that she could even get a hold of her. She even wanted to talk to Gibbs, but based on what McGee had said, she was rather afraid to talk to a 'new' Gibbs. And Tony…oh how much she wanted to talk to Tony….she remembered their last conversation too, in the airport terminal, getting ready to part their separate ways, as Tony had said, just like in the movies. She smiled a little as she closed her eyes in the dark room, the faint sunlight shining through, creating the only sense of security. Mossad would want her up in an hour anyways. She groaned as she remembered their conversation…

"_Tony, I do not want to go." She sighed, and he grasped her hands in his, staring her straight in the eyes, piercing her. _

"_I know you don't, and you think that I wanna spend the rest of my life on a ship? I hate ships, how do you expect me to live on them?"_

"_I hate my father, and yet I have to deal with him, Tony. We both do not want to leave." He placed one hand on the side of her face, cupping her cheek._

"_I know. But we have to."_

"_Isn't there anything else we can do?" Ziva asked, pleading for him to stay with her. She didn't want to leave. She just admitted to a man that she's loved for three years, that she was in love with him, and he was in love with her, and yet they were leaving for…no one knows when. They could never see each other again._

"_I don't know." Tony sighed, the pain flickering through his face, mimicking his partner's expression exactly. They were more than just partners. Partners. Best friends. Lovers. __**Soulmates.**_"_You shot down my idea of running away together."_

_She rolled her eyes, "That is because it was…__cliché__, yes?"_

"_Yeah, I guess...but I guess you could say that this is moment, right here is cliché as well._" _he lowered his mouth down against hers, the passion roaring through their bodies, wanting the other for the most that they could, pulling on each other, trying to make the other one realize that they wanted them, needed them more than they'd like to admit. A collective amounts of 'ooos' and 'ahhhhs' brought them out of their fantasy world as they let go, heavily breathing as he rested his forehead against hers, staring deep into her eyes, their noses touching, "Goodbye, Zi." He said, kissing her one more time._

"_Goodbye, Tony." She said, kissing him one more time, but letting her lips linger on his for a moment before they let go and picked up their carry-on bags, not wanting to go the other way. They stared at each other for as long as they could before the crowd blocked their view of the other. _

She relived that moment over and over again before she finally could feel the emotions pouring out of her body. She was Mossad, she wasn't supposed to show emotions, but she was showing them. She could feel the hot tears pouring down her face, streaking it and making her realize that she needed them all more than she had ever needed them. Tony…his face, his famous smile. She cried harder. She brought her knees up to her chest and assumed a fetal position, squeezing her pillow and rolling around in the bed, trying to get the pain to magically go away. The cuts on her back burned in protest, and the tears kept falling.

"_I'm not the only person I'm worried about hurting, Ziva."_

"_That's because you're a good person."_

The tears kept falling, and she stifled a sob as she remembered their memories.

"_Have you ever lied to someone you love, Ziva?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Did they ever forgive you?"_

"_They never found out."_

Jeanne…she remembered her jealousy, and then the hurt and pain she felt for Tony when she left. More tears. She couldn't stop them. All of the emotions that she had had bottled up, hiding from Tony for three years, were finally being released.

_"What?"_

_"You don't look so bad. McGee said you were a wreck. I was just gonna tossel your hair. Sometimes it makes you smile."_

_"Sorry."_

Why she took that undercover mission so seriously, she didn't know. She had shot other men before, why was shooting a serial killer any different? And why did she block Tony out?

_"Well, I've been watching you from afar Tony, which is why I know how much you cared for Jeanne."_

_"Ahhh, your timing is impeccable Ziva."_

_"And how much it hurt when she left... so, what happens now?"_

"_If this is a pep-talk, I give you a D-"_

_"Tony, even if by some miracle Jeanne did forgive you, would you be willing to be Tony DiNardo full-time; to leave your entire life for her?"_

She remembered how much it hurt. She remembered how hurt he looked. They both wanted each other at the time, Ziva assumed, but they didn't do anything about it. She cursed inwardly at herself. That was almost a year ago. She and Tony could have been together for almost a year. But he was still getting over Jeanne...over her...more tears. Jeanne.

_"You ever think about soulmates?"_

_"They were on Decca once, right? Sing me a few bars, I'll get it."_

_"You'll never get it."_

They were soulmates. She had been hinting at him that they may be in fact, soulmates for each other. The african-american woman proved that. _"Have you found your soulmate, miss?" _She hadn't even yelled at her or glared at her for calling her 'miss'. She remembered that she had turned her head away and started pretending to draw on the table before the woman placed a hand on her arm and shook her, _"When you find your soulmate, miss, you will know." _She knew. Tony was her soulmate, none other.

"_Paris….that's when it must have happened."_

"_The two of them alone, in another world…"_

"_Putting their lives in each others hands, every day."_

"_Not to mention the long nights."_

"_It was inevitable."_

"_Nothing is inevitable."_

The last moment that they had together as NCIS special agents. Together in Ducky's autopsy, drinking. The last moment she remembered, the ones that broke both of their hearts, scarred them for life, changed their course forever were the ones that escaped Leon Vance's throat, and caused Ziva to cry the hardest she had ever in her entire life. She didn't care if anyone saw, if anyone heard her. She didn't care.

"_Officer David. The Liaison position at NCIS is being terminated. You're going home."_

"_Agent DiNozzo. You've been reassigned. Agent Afloat. USS Ronald Reagan. Pack your bags, you fly out tomorrow."_

She knew, at that moment, that she didn't want Michael as her lover, she didn't want the Director as her father; she didn't want any of them. She wanted Tony as her lover, and she wanted Gibbs as her father. She wanted McGee as her brother and Abby as her sister. She wanted Ducky as her grandfather, and even Palmer as a cousin. She wanted them all. Mossad was never home, nor would it ever be. Dawn broke through her windows, and her alarm went off. She groaned, got out of the bed she never slept in, wiped her tears away, and changed her clothes before walking out of her apartment and down the stairs to go and get one of her many daily cups of coffee.

In Mossad she learned exactly why Gibbs drank so much coffee; to stay awake, so he wouldn't have to dream. He drank to take away the pain.


	7. USS Seahawk

Ziva-

You said his name! Good girl! And I'm sorry you're having such a horrible time in Israel. Hopefully it will get better. Can you believe that it's already been five weeks since we've been away from each other? Gibbs doesn't seem to be doing anything to get us back though, which is really scary, for me at least. _**Tony apparently has been deployed to another ship; he's not on the USS Ronald Regan anymore. **_His address has obviously changed as well, so I don't have it anymore. But don't worry, I will have it when he sends Abs another letter. I miss you guys terribly. Abby made it worse by crying today. Maybe you should talk to her. Is there anyway that you could contact her via MTAC? Gibbs doesn't know what to do with himself. I heard him yelling at Vance today about you and Tony and I. Okay, Ziva, make me feel better. Tell me what happened when you and Tony went home. Did you two finally make up? Finally make-out? Finally admit your feelings for each other? Finally sleep together? Finally HUG? Have you ever hugged? Ever? I thought you two were best friends! You've hugged _me_, you've hugged Abs (but so has everyone), you've hugged Gibbs, you've hugged Ducky…why not Tony? You are best friends! So what did you two do? It's eating me on the inside that I don't know what you did. Do you really want me to ask Abs to ask him what happened?

-Probie

p.s. About the hairy butt comment…I don't even want to know.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How he became so mean, he didn't quite understand. It scared him how much he acted like Gibbs on the USS Seahawk.

"Agent Afloat!" A crewman by the name of Brad yelled. Tony could feel his lip snarling up in anger.

"Shut the hell up!" He shouted, reaching for his gun. He wanted to shoot them all, so badly. So what if he was an Agent Afloat? An Agent Afloat who wanted nothing more than to jump ship? An Agent Afloat who yelled at everyone? An Agent Afloat who never slept because he was too busy thinking of _her_? But all in all, he was just an agent afloat who wanted to go back out onto the field.

"He's gonna shoot! He's gonna shoot! Run, man! Run!"

"You shoot that gun, I shoot you."

He turned around and faced Captain Richard Evans.

"Look, I was just-"

"I don't care. Listen, Agent DiNozzo, you may not like it here, but you're going to have to deal with it." He put a hand on his shoulder. Rather awkward, Tony had to admit that, "Have you been sleeping?"

"No, sir." Tony said, and the Captain wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"What the hell have you been eating? Or drinking? Is that whiskey?"

"Yes, sir."

"DiNozzo! You know the rules about drinking on the ship!"

"I know, sir. I also know the rules about harassing a federal agent. I could arrest this whole ship right now if I wanted to, including you. So if you don't mind, _sir, _I'm going to go back to my duties." And with that, he shrugged off the captain's hand and walked away. Okay, more like _stalked _away, but it didn't matter. It wasn't like Tony to have no one on the ship like him, not even the women! Granted, the few women on the ship weren't attractive, but it didn't matter anyways. He would never sleep with anyone after his and Ziva's _session_ that night. Ever. that would be betraying her. If someone even as hot as Jessica Alba walked up to him and wanted to have sex with him, he wouldn't do it. Betraying Ziva would be the most guilty thing he'd ever done. He knew what it felt like to be hurt by someone he loved. Ziva was already sensitive with her feelings...he couldn't bear to break them. Besides, he father was probably doing a good job at that right now.

He walked into the galley, his stomach growling as a thousand eyes turned to stare at him, shielding their food from him as they glared. He rolled his eyes, got the disgusting slop, and then sat down next to one of the few people that was actually nice to him on the ship.

"Hey, Tony. How are you?" Chet said, popping a piece of bread into his mouth and smiling at him. Tony smiled back.

"Hey, Chet. Horrible. I want off this ship!" Tony sighed, "Hey, you got any good movies?"

"Uh…we're not allowed to watch movies on the ship."

"Then what do you do for fun?"

"Uh…we play poker. Which we aren't allowed to do anyways, but that's easy to cover up."

"No movies?" Tony asked in disbelief, "Damn, I don't know how I'm going to survive! Though the boss wouldn't mind that much. He hates my movie quotes…the probe…I don't know what he would do. He'd probably even go more crazy than he normally is! And Ziva-" Tony stopped. He looked down at his food as the smile that was forming on Chet's face fell.

"What's wrong? Who's Ziva?"

"Ziva?" Someone asked, from another table. Tony recognized him as the same person that started the 'be afraid of the agent afloat' scheme, "Zeeevahh….who the hell is Ziva? I heard the agent afloat say her name." The whole galley went quiet, and Tony could feel his blood boil inside of him, "I didn't think that that little shrimp could get someone to date him…" Tony clenched his hands together in a fist, "She must be one ugly woman." Everyone started to laugh, causing the sailor to gain even more confidence, "Or he drugged her. What does-" And that was when Tony's fist collided with his jaw, sending him flying across the table and onto the floor. He quickly stood up and took a shot at Tony, but missed, smacking someone else in the face. They stood up as well, taking shots at each other. Tony shoved the man, whom he thought was in fact named Tommy, up against the wall, "She's my girlfriend," Tony snarled, causing the whole galley to stop and turn to look at him.

"I doubt it. I want proof."

"Fine! You want proof…I'll get you proof." And Tony stalked out of the galley, Chet following behind him.

"What the hell were you thinking? You could have gotten your ass kicked off of this ship!"

"Good." Tony replied, dryly, walking down the hallway towards 'NCIS'.

"Hey, am I going to be the first shipmate to see your cabin?"

"Yup." Tony said, opening up the door and revealing the mess that was in fact his cabin. He quickly stowed away the whiskey bottle that was on top of the desk from last night, or this morning, he didn't know, and shoved it into the closet.

"So where's this 'proof'?" Chet asked, looking around the cabin as he started to clean up, shoving clothes and other things everywhere. He looked at his desk and gave a wolf-whistle, "Whoa. Tony, dude, is this her?" He asked, pointing to the pictures on his bulletin board, "This is the famous Ziva." He said as he leaned closer to the board. Tony stopped what he was doing and looked up at his friend, "She's something, Tony."

"Mossad Israeli."

Chet's eyes went wide, "Seriously?"

"Mossad…assassin."

"Damn, Tommy's gonna just shit right on the spot when he sees this. We gotta show him these…"

"No! NO! You can't, Chet!"

"This is proof!"

"I don't-"

"When am I gonna meet her?"

"Probably never. I need to get off this ship…" Tony groaned, "I need off. I'm gonna go insane!"

"Well you wanted to know what to do for fun…let's tell Tommy about the pictures…all right?"

And in a total of three minutes and sixty-five and a half seconds, that was when the stampede into Tony's little, cramped quarters began. Tony glared at Chet as he watched his shipmates, who apparently had hated his guts before, drooling like dogs over the pictures of her, complementing Tony on his taste in woman, and all he could think was…

_Zi's gonna kill me._


	8. Luck be a Lady

McGee-

Oh my father is the most arrogant person in the world! I can not stand him, McGee! I can not! _**He called me into his office today to talk to me about my relationship with NCIS**_. I told him I had a strictly professional relationship, and then he tells me that he has been spying on me again? He showed pictures of Tony and I together eating dinner in a restaurant and then walking out a movie theater. We are _friends_ McGee, but papa will not believe that! Tony is part of the reason that he _asked Vance_ for my position at NCIS to be terminated. He thought that I was _getting married _to _Tony. _He would not even listen to me when I tried to calmly explain to him what was really going on, but of course, papa does not listen. He is arranging a marriage for me, McGee, you must go and get Gibbs to convince Vance to let me come home. I can not and will not marry this man. If you do not hear from me for a while, it is probably because I am either hiding from my father and the person that he has arranged me to marry or I am dead. Since this may be my last email, I will tell you that what my partner and I did that night did not require clothes, but it did require a bed. So yes, when you assumed, you assumed right. Do not hate me, McGee. Know that I miss you all.

-Ziva

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Ziva?" She looked up at her new partner, Michael Rivkin, who was standing in the doorway of her new apartment…with working water, and no dirt.

"_Yes?"_

"_Your father would like to see you in his office ASAP." _She sighed and closed her book, sitting up from her couch and walking towards the doorway, leaning up against the other side of the frame, opposite her partner.

"_Thank you, Michael." _She said, leaning up and pecking him on the lips, quickly, before disappearing down the hallway.

She didn't quite know when or how she 'got over Tony' but she had found something in Michael, she just couldn't quite put her finger on it. She felt almost guilty that she had 'gotten over him', but, to be honest, she really hadn't. She guessed that Michael would be just one of those 'replacements'. And he knew that. Michael knew that she was just using him as her 'candy' to live through the months she would have without her real partner. She didn't honestly know why she was doing it. She didn't understand why she took down the pictures of Tony in her bedroom, she didn't understand any of her actions during her months in Israel with Mossad. She almost hated herself for it, but she realized that the hating should come for her father instead of for herself as she knocked on the door for the director's office.

"_If it is Ziva, Tzahal." _The guard outside of her father's office nodded and then opened up the door, letting her in before quickly closing it, almost nipping her butt as she did so.

"_Michael tells me that you wanted to see me."_

"Yes, Ziva, I do. Please sit." he said, switching to English. Ziva was not used to hearing English…after a couple of months of nothing but Hebrew, she was not prepared, however, it would not take her long to switch. She sat down in the chair.

"What?"

"Ziva, calm down, please." Eli said, annoyed at the tone in her voice, "How are you liking Israel?"

"Father, you ask me that every week. Every day, as a matter of fact, and has my answer changed? No. Now unless you have a real reason for me to be in here, I will be going now."

"Ziva!" Her father's voice boomed, "Sit down." She rolled her eyes, huffed, and then sat down in the seat, crossing her arms, "I know about your relationship with NCIS."

"I love them, if that is what you mean, yes."

"No, Ziva." he pulled off his glasses, sighed, took a deep breath closed his eyes, and then looked up at his daughter, "Did you or did you not sleep with him?"

_Tony._

She gulped, trying to find the words, trying to break out with some lie, "Who?" was all she could manage to say, to buy her a little more time.

Eli sighed, "Your partner. Anthony DiNozzo."

Just his name brought pain to her heart. Memories came flooding back to her…she knew she still loved him. Ugh, she knew. She knew. Ziva also knew that she couldn't lie to her father and get away with it. Who else told her that how to determine if someone was lying? She just looked down at her lap. She knew she was caught just as her father muttered, _"I knew it. I knew it."_

"_Knew what?" _She shouted, in Hebrew, _"I am sorry that you sent me to NCIS not to make relationships with people! I am sorry that someone other than someone you have approved of." _She said, standing up and walking towards her father's desk.

"_He is not Jewish, my child."_

"_I do not care if he is not Jewish. He is my partner, and I fell in love with him!" _The moment she said it, she froze. She just admitted it. In front of her father of all people.

"_I refuse to let you marry this man." _

"_Marry?" _Ziva asked, in shock, _"I am not getting married, Papa."_

"_Pictures speak a thousand words, my child." _He said, handing her the case file. She took it carefully and opened it up, flipping through the pictures. One was of her and Tony, smiling at each other in a restaurant. A date? They sure looked like they were on one. Just looking at him was making her tear up, but she would never cry in front her father. She turned to the next picture, one of her and Tony walking out of the movie theater, his hand around her waist. _I don't remember that…_She thought, _It really felt that natural? _She had to resist the urge to throw the file at her father; instead she just chucked it onto his desk, _"You see? This type of behavior is completely…wrong. Are you pregnant?"_

"_No!" _Ziva yelled, _"And what are you going to do about it if I am?"_

"_Nothing."_

"_Exactly."_

"_However, I can arrange you a marriage."_

"_Marriage?" _Ziva asked, in disbelief. How would Tony feel about this? _"Excuse me? I am not getting married!"_

"_You will like being married. It will get you away from this Anthony man."_

"_You have never even met him! He is a good person, papa." _She cursed in Hebrew before muttering under her breath as she paced back and forth across the floor in her father's study. She couldn't believe this. Her heart was beating a thousand times a minute; she couldn't stop it.

"_He is an American. Catholic. He is not right for you." _

"_You do not know…you are…you are so…prejudice!" _She felt guilty for telling Tony that he was prejudiced, it almost literally hurt her.

"_I will pick out a good husband for you, Ziva. Do not worry." _Eli said, looking down at his paper and writing down some names from a list he had up on his computer.

"_No, papa. I will be going back to NCIS, back to Washington DC, and I will be with my American boy. I refuse to marry whoever it is. I do not care. I refuse." _

"_Ziva, you do not understand, do you, my child?"_

"_Understand what?"_

"_You are not going back to America. What memories you have collected with your time in America are the only ones you will have. Your last memory with Anthony DiNozzo is what you are going to have to live on. You will never see him again. Understand?"_

Last memory…last memory…

"_So, I guess this is it." Tony said as he closed the door to his apartment with his foot, flipping the lights on and revealing his oh-too-familiar apartment to her eyes. _

"_I guess so." She mumbled, wringing her hands together as she stared at the couch, reliving memories after memories of her and Tony watching movies together on that couch, her and Tony sharing thoughts about cases on that couch, her and Tony just talking on that couch._

_The sound of smooth jazz filled the room, and she smiled, recognizing it as one of Tony's favorites; Frank Sinatra. Suddenly, a glass half-filled with red wine was in front of her, and she turned her head to the left and saw Tony staring down at her, without his famous smile on his face; it was just a grimace this time. She took it and gave him a sad smile, swirling around the wine in the glass but not drinking it. _

"_Come sit down, Ziva." He said, sitting down on the couch, patting the seat next to him. She sat on the edge, very tense, very on edge with herself, as she traced the rim of the glass, "Relax." He said, placing one hand tentatively on her shoulder, massaging it, "Relax." He repeated._

"_I am…I am fine, Tony." She said, looking down at the ground._

"_Come on now, Ziva, don't try to fool me. You're lying. Come on, spill. What's on your mind?" He asked, taking a sip of the wine before placing it back down on top of the coffee table._

"_I am thinking about what my life is going to be like…without Gibbs without McGee, without Abby, without Ducky…" she turned to look at him, "without you."_

"_Aw, Zi, don't start this."_

"_No, Tony, we are never going to see each other again, do you not understand? My father will not let me come back to America, even on missions. He is probably very upset at NCIS right now, especially Vance, for terminating my position. He will not let me come back. Do you not understand? And you…you will be trapped on that boat!"_

"_Ship, Ziva, and I know. Vance is an ass." He smiled, and then let it grow wider as she couldn't help but break out into a little grin, "See? You know it's true."_

"_So what now?" Ziva sighed, "This is goodbye, Tony."_

"_Not yet." Tony said, trying to convince himself that he could do this._

"_What are you talking about? We are leaving, Tony. You and I are both flying out tomorrow, we will be a thousand miles away from each other, maybe more. It is over, Tony, this is goodbye!" Ziva put her wine glass down, and Tony turned her cautiously on the couch, to face him. He placed his hands on top of hers, gently massaging the backs of them with his thumb. _

"_Ziva? Ziva." He said, demanding, "Look at me." She didn't budge, "Look at me." He commanded, a little more forcefully, but still with a little compassion. He couldn't be too hard on her, it was obvious that she didn't want to leave. And he didn't want her to leave, "Ziva. Look. At. Me." He said, and she sighed and gave up, looking him straight in the eyes._

"_What?" She asked, and he could tell that she was fighting back tears. This was a side of Ziva he had never seen before. A vulnerable Ziva. He was going to tell her his dying feelings for her, at the moment, but he didn't want to take advantage of her in this delicate frame of mind._

_He wished himself luck as he moved in for the kill. He could feel her hot breath on his face as she stiffened, squeezing his hands, which had been on hers in her lap as she moved closer towards him. They stopped, freezing just millimeters in front of the others' lips, "Tony…" She breathed, and that was his cue to go in. He closed the gap and pressed his lips against hers, tasting her sweet breath, but keeping the kiss slow. He wasn't going to take advantage of her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer to him as Tony wrapped his arms around her waist. She moaned in pleasure, and that was Tony's ticket. He opened his mouth just as she opened hers and their tongue's met. The kiss was a thousand times better than the one that they had shared when they were undercover nearly three years ago, but that was only because this one was full of passion; they weren't acting. She fell into his lap and started to un-do his shirt, her lips not leaving his. Their clothes came off, one by one, until they were both naked on top of his couch. They finally broke the kiss, only to breathe, and Ziva looked down at him._

"_Let's take this someone more…comfortable." Tony smiled, and she nodded as she picked her up bridal style and ran into the bedroom, setting her down on the bed, gently before climbing on top of her. He placed a kiss on her lips, "You ready?" He breathed, and she nodded._

"_Yes…" She moaned as he entered her. They were two pieces of a puzzle, fitting together as one, in one fluid movement. Suddenly, Ziva wrapped her hands around his back and flipped him over, "You should remember that I prefer on top." He smiled._

"_I remember." He said as she mounted him, moving up and down, their hips meeting the other's perfectly, as if they had rehearsed this for months. Slowly, she moved her lips down to his, kissing him more passionately than she had ever kissed someone. Ziva didn't know how long she had stayed like that, and neither did Tony, but they both knew that they were having the time of their lives. _

_The next morning, Ziva woke up to the soft beeping of an alarm clock, signaling 0500 hours. Their planes would be leaving in a couple of hours, and she didn't know what she was going to do. She could still hear the soft jazz music coming from the living room, Frank Sinatra's voice singing to her. Tony must have left the CD on repeat, she assumed. _

"_You awake, sweetheart?" Sweetheart…it sounded good coming from Tony's lips. _

"_Yes." She sighed, twirling his chest hair with her finger, "We have to go in a couple of hours, Tony." she said, placing a kiss on his chest, "Maybe we should take a shower."_

"_Good idea." he said, kissing the crown on her head as she sat up and got out of bed, walking towards the bathroom. Tony didn't follow her, and she was almost grateful that he didn't. She didn't want to have to have another painful memory. When she was done with her shower, she walked out of the bathroom and noticed Tony, walking around in just a bathrobe, packing up his things. He smiled up at her, "You done?"_

"_Yes, Tony. Look, I was just thinking…maybe I should pack up my stuff and then pick you back up so we can head to Dulles, yes?"_

"_Sounds good, Zi." He smiled, "I'll just finish packing up here and then file my leave papers for the apartment. I'm really gonna miss you, Ziva." _

"_Me too." She smiled before slipping on her dress from last night; she had yet to change, and starting out of his apartment, slowly. She stopped in the doorway, turning around as she took in the last of his apartment. The movie library he had, the huge TV, and the couch, as well as the movie posters he had around his living room, and the small kitchen with the fridge that was normally full of beer, pizza, and buffalo wings. She smiled as she slowly closed the door, taking it all into her photographic memory, Frank Sinatra singing his last words to her…a song she knew fairly well. However, the last time she had heard it, Tony had been singing it. Frank's voice changed to her partner's as he sang:_

"_Luck be a lady…tonight." _

"Ziva!" her father shouted, snapping her out of her thoughts. She felt her cheeks wet, and she realized that she had been crying, thinking about their last memory.

"What?" She spat, "I am not getting married, papa." She said, switching to English, "I refuse to get married to anyone but Anthony DiNozzo."

"Then, sorry to say this, your life will be shortened."

She gaped at her father. Her father was going to kill her? For not marrying some man she didn't know? For not marrying the man she actually cared about? _"I hate you, papa." _She spat before walking out of the room, slamming the door behind her. She ran to her apartment across the street, crossing the busy traffic in front of the Mossad building. It was worse than DC's. Once she entered her apartment, she noticed Michael sitting on the couch, looking down at his hands. His head snapped up as she entered and he stood up.

"_Ziva! How was it? You look upset! What's-"_

"_Shut up, Michael." _She spat, and Michael's worried expression faded.

"_Understood. Sorry, Ziva." _He said, walking out of the room as she sighed and sat down on the couch, thinking briefly about Tony. Their last moment together? She knew it was coming, how come she couldn't believe it now? She walked over to her suitcase and searched through her bag before finally finding what she was looking for. She put the CD into the stereo she recently bought, and pressed play, switching to track two as jazz music filled the room and Frank Sinatra's voice came on. She pulled on Tony's t-shirt;

"_They call you lady luck, but there is room for doubt…at times you have a very unlady-like way of running out…" _Frank continued to sing as she picked up the photos she had strewn across her old room and smiled at them, lying down the couch as she had a proper 'goodbye' session for Tony. Tony would want her to be happy, _"Luck be lady tonight. Luck be a lady tonight. Luck if you've ever been a lady to begin with. Luck be a lady tonight." _She started singing along before reaching over and grabbing the glass of wine she had poured a couple of hours ago. She toasted it to the sky, _"Shalom Tony…luck be a lady with me." _She laughed as she sipped the wine, but, even though she was trying to be happy, she couldn't help but feel like a part of her was slipping away, _"Stick with me, baby, I'm the fella you came in with….luck be a lady tonight." _And the trumpets started as she started dancing around, pretending that Tony was there, her glass of wine in one hand, her hands up in the air as if he was really there, _"Stick with me baby, I'm the guy that you came in with, oh luck be a lady" _She spun around, smiling as she moved her hips to the beat of the music, "_…luck be a lady" _She spun around again, "_…luck be a lady….tonight!" _


	9. Together Again

**Okay, this one is a little different. Like completely different. They're all back together, it's set during Agent Afloat, before Tony, Gibbs, and Ziva head back to DC. It's the last chapter, so thank you so much for reviewing the whole thing!**

Ziva-

I….I don't know what to say. Your father is arranging a marriage for you? Are you serious? Because of…of Tony? I know that Gibbs has a rule not to date a co-worker, but even he wouldn't…fire you! So you love Tony…I knew that. You finally overcame to your sexual tension…I assumed that, but getting an arranged marriage? Didn't even see it coming. Don't this Ziva, you can't die. I…I'll get someone out there. I'll go out there myself and take you back with me so that we can put you under protective custody! Ziva you have to be joking, right? _**I mean, what the hell am I supposed to tell Tony? Do you know how much it would kill him?**_ To find out that the woman he loves is getting an arranged marriage and may get shot by Mossad? I don't know if I was supposed to tell you that, but it doesn't matter. Ziva! Ziva! You can't do this! ZIVA!

-McGee

p.s. Reply as soon as you get this so I know you're still alive.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tony and Ziva smiled as they walked as closely as they could to each other down the narrow ship hallways.

"Just like old times…just like old times." Tony said as some shipmates saluted him and smiled.

"Good work, Agent Afloat." Tony almost gaped. They had been complete bastards to him while he was an Agent Afloat…maybe they were just happy that he was leaving.

Ziva gave a small laugh from his side, and he almost forgot that the woman that had been swelling his heart, consuming it over the last four months was standing next to him, "You seemed to be well liked. Are you sure you want to come back home?" Home. Ziva referred to DC as home, not Israel. This, to Tony, was definitely a good sign.

"Trust me," He responded, "This is just an act."

"Your act or theirs?"

"Theirs. They hated me while I was agent afloat. Thought I was going to shoot them."

"Really? I would be more worried that they would shoot you." Tony gave a sarcastic laugh as some men ran by, playing football.

"Watch out!" He said, grabbing on her arm and pulling her towards him, so that she didn't get run over as the shipmate caught the ball and fell down onto the ground before breaking out in a fit of laughter. They both stared down at the man, and then realized the position they were in. Ziva slowly turned her head to look at Tony, who was holding her hands in his, which were being brought to his chest, and she could feel his hot breath against her face. Her heart sped up as Tony quickly let go of her, knowing that he shouldn't be doing that.

"Come on, I gotta pack up. Get to go home." He said, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her towards him. He was surprised she didn't push him away. Instead, she just smiled and, it felt like to him, that she leaned into him. Again, another smile. Once they made it to his cabin, he swung open the door and immediately left Ziva's side. They both stared at each other as they realized that they missed having the other next to their side. He moved over to the closet and unlocked it before throwing out his black suitcase, the top flipping open as it squeaked onto his bed. He started shoving the clothes that were on the floor into the bag, not even bothering to neatly fold them as he shoved them in.

"Zi, you mind grabbing my toiletries…or whatever you girls call it in the drawer? And grab whatever else is in there out?"

"Sure." She said, opening up the top drawer and chucking him a small bag as well as a blue towel.

"Thanks." He smiled as he turned away and continued to pack up his things. She opened up another drawer and pulled out postcards from Abby, all sent to him during his time as an Agent Afloat. She put them on top of his desk, as well as a couple of pens and pencils, accompanied with several blank sheets of paper and a stack of un-used USS Seahawk postcards. She closed that drawer and opened up the bottom one, pulling out a glass with a hint of whiskey at the bottom and a half-empty bottle of whiskey.

"Tony…" She said, furrowing her eyebrows together in confusion as she showed him her two newly found items.

"Oh…well that's not all of it. That would last me maybe two days."

"Tony!" She scolded, "It is a wonder you are not dead!" She felt her heart race. She had done this to him. Jenny's death had done this to him… "Where is the rest?" She asked, fear evident in her voice. He sighed and looked down, but did not say anything, "Where is the rest?" She demanded.

"In the closet." He sighed, rubbing his eyes with his hands, "Zi, please."

"Tony…" She gasped as she opened up the door and witnessed the boxes upon boxes upon boxes of empty liquor bottles. She turned around and could feel the tears well up in her eyes. Life must have been complete hell for him…drinking like that? Everyday…one bottle would last him maybe two days? Was he serious? She flung her arms around him, squeezing him tightly and burying her face into his brown jacket, not wanting him to see her cry, "You could have called…you could have talked to me, Tony. You did not have to do that…"

"It helped, Ziva." He said, patting her back as he pulled her closer to him, "It's my fault Jenny's dead."

"Tony, stop it!" She demanded, but her face never left his shoulder, "It was not your fault. She was dying anyways."

Gibbs walked into the NCIS cabin and stopped short when he caught a sight of his two agents, embracing each other tightly.

"Tony…" She muttered, "You did not have to do that."

"Ziva…please."

Gibbs looked around the cabin and noticed the suitcase on Tony's bed that was half-packed as well as the postcards that were on his desk and the empty whiskey bottles in the closet. He also noticed the bikini pictures of Ziva that were on his wall. He gave a half-smile and removed one, the tack ripping off and hitting the floor, clanking away as the two agents broke away from each other and turned to look at Gibbs with a surprised look on their faces.

"Uh…boss…I can explain."

"About the pictures or why you were hugging your partner?"

"Uh…about both…see boss Ziva and I…"

"DiNozzo." Gibbs stopped him.

"Yeah boss?""Don't wanna know. Rule twelve, remember?" And with that he smirked, "We're leaving in fifteen. Be up there."

"On it, boss! Sorry, boss." He sighed and turned to Ziva, "Help me pack up, okay?" Gibbs left as she nodded her head.

"Yes…you have postcards on your desk."

He picked them up and shoved them in the suitcase as he quickly removed the pictures of Ziva from the bulletin board and put them in his suitcase.

"I have been meaning to ask you about those…Tony." Ziva smiled.

"What about 'em?"

"Where did you get them…and why did you need them?" She asked, approaching him and getting close to him.

"You know why I needed them." He muttered.

"Tony? I heard the news! I can't believe you're actually leaving! Well, I mean, that's good for you…but…" Chet stopped as he reached to give Tony a hug, when his eyes went to Ziva's.

"Hello." She said, her accent thick, "I am Ziva David, Tony's NCIS partner." She smiled at him, extending her hand. His eyes were bug-eyed, and he took her hand, smiling like an idiot as he shook it.

"So you're the famous Ziva David. Nice to finally meet you. Tony wouldn't shut up about you and how you have that-""Chet!" Tony cut off, anger seething in his words, "Shut. Up."

"Sorry man." Ziva raised an eyebrow at Tony, who tried to escape her gaze, "Well have fun in DC, will ya?" He gave him a light, manly hug, before patting him on the back, "I'll miss ya. You made this ship interesting. You and all your stories about Zi…I mean…NCIS."

"You can go Chet. Bye, man."

"Yeah. See you later." he turned around, "Ziva. Nice to meet you too. Keep Tony in line, will you?"

"I will." She smiled, and, as soon as Chet left the room, she crossed her arms and turned to her partner, "Excuse me, Tony, what was that all about?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Chip…or whatever his name was. You talked about me?"

"His name's _Chet, _Ziva, and shut up. Help me pack the bags, we only have six minutes left till we're supposed to be up there with Gibbs.

There was no way he was going to let her know that every conversation started, ended, and consisted of nothing but her….and how much he missed her.

That, however, had all changed now. Except, Tony had a feeling that, while they were in the quarters, Ziva had found someone else to replace their special 'last night' in Israel. And the more that he was around her, the stronger the feeling was. There was something off in the way she had hugged him. Tense? Very. Her body was so tense, he felt that if he squeezed her too hard, she would break in half. There was just something in her eyes that was off. Maybe they weren't brown enough, maybe they weren't big enough…he didn't know, but there was something different. This feeling, he had felt before, and that was what scared him. He felt the same way when Jeanne left him, and he wasn't going to let Ziva slip through is fingers.

Ziva was not another Jeanne.

He wasn't going to allow it to be.

Even with Gibbs and his damned rule book.

Besides, rules were just guidelines…right?

**THE END**


End file.
